


In Time for the Wedding

by Not_You



Series: It's Weird When Shaw Is Nice [24]
Category: X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Fluff, M/M, Multi, WAFF, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-19
Updated: 2013-04-19
Packaged: 2017-12-08 23:01:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/767068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Not_You/pseuds/Not_You
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A continuation of The Second Betrothal with a time jump four years to the actual wedding.  Yes, I do realize these should be chapters, hush.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Time for the Wedding

An Imperium betrothal ceremony is three hours long, and the only thing that gets Anya through it is the little firewine pastille Mother has given her to tuck into her cheek. The taste is pleasant, and unobtrustively sucking on it helps the boredom, and the wine itself takes the edge off of everything. If she wasn't just the tiniest bit drunk, she would be incredibly nervous with what seems like every noble in the Imperium staring at her as the priest drones on and on about fidelity and souls and madness and the divine. At least here madsign is given its fair due. It's a gift, just a tricky one. The thought makes her glance up without moving her head to see her family sitting among the Imperium nobles, and she smiles a little.

When all the talking is done at last, Xavi kisses her hand and slides a smooth, platinum band onto her third finger. She does the same to him, and seems to hear a Wakanda bell despite the nearest one being hundreds of miles away. Xavi at last looks into her eyes, forbidden for the previous three hours, and smiles.

"I’m so glad to see the children so in love," Erik murmurs, and Sebastian grins at him.

"I'm just glad to see Xavi so happy," Charles says, unshed tears in his eyes. Erik laces their fingers together and squeezes his hand.

"And we'll try to keep him that way, love."

Xavi is just glad that he and Anya are officially betrothed now. That means that they can walk in the gardens and Xavi can show her all his favorite flowers. They speak to him too, and when he mentions that without meaning to and then covers his mouth, Anya just smiles.

"I wish I could hear them. My brother might be able to."

"I saw that he has the sign as well."

"He does, and we've never made him feel bad about it." Anya takes his hand, which would be a shocking liberty by Imperium standards if they weren't betrothed. Xavi decides that he likes it, and he likes the way Anya blushes when he says so. Their first real kiss is under a spreading, flowering tree, and the scent will stay with Xavi for the rest of his life.

Going home is melancholy, and Anya cries the way David did when Azari left for Wakanda the first time. David and Mother sit on either side of her to comfort her. The Imperium is thrilled, of course. A leaving betrothed tears are good luck, for obvious reasons.

Sebastian disappoints their southern neighbors and ettins alike by making a full recovery, and over the next four years they visit the Imperium every summer. Anya's wedding is in summer as well, in deference to her father's schedule. He's getting older and older, but is as a fierce as ever and keeps going up to the frontier. Anya doesn't want to be the one to take it from him, though, and is just glad he's here to formally give her to her husband, a tradition the Imperium practices. It's also tradition that she can't see Xavi before the ceremony, and it makes her very nervous as the women gown her in purest snow white, braiding flowers into her hair where it flows down her back in a river of red-gold-brown. Blonde hair is prized up north, but Anya's russet hue is a very good second, and hers is glossy and healthy.

"Anya, dearest?" Mother pushes one of the heavy curtains of her little bridal enclosure within her own suite, looking for her." "Oh," He says when he sees her, silvery eyes incredibly tender. "Oh, you look so beautiful, little one." Mother comes in because Anya is decent now and a man may enter, beaming at her. "The ceremony starts in fifteen minutes, are you ready?"

Mother is beautiful too, and Anya just stares for a moment. He's wearing purest silver, because black at an Imperium wedding is bad luck, and it gives his eyes an eerie glimmer that is really quite remarkable. "You should wear silver more often, Mother."

He grins at her. "Thank you, darling. Ah, I see, you only need your shoes." He fetches them for her, ornate and high-heeled white silk slippers, and helps her into them. She has practiced walking in high-heeled shoes ever since she was twelve and heard that she would be expected to wear them on her wedding day, and it pays off now. She minces along with Mother, who leads her to Father and then gives her a kiss on the cheek for luck, going to take his place in the ceremonial hall.

"Ready, little goat?" Father mutters.

"Yes, Father. I'm glad you're here."

"I couldn't be anywhere else on the day of my daughter's wedding, and you know it."


End file.
